Faculty Profile
Jeff Engelhardt
Associate Professor of Philosophy (2014)
Contact Information
East College Room 205
717-254-8301
Bio
My research focuses on interactions between minds, language, and broader social structures. In one recent paper, for instance, I consider how gendered linguistic norms might contribute to the prevalence of gaslighting. In the recent book Nonideal Theory and Content Externalism (Oxford, 2024), I argue that many, perhaps most, theories of language implicitly assume that oppression doesn't affect the structures that determine linguistic meaning; in fact, however, oppression systematically shapes these structures, and thus such theories of language are systematically inaccurate. In the past, I've worked on metaphysical issues relevant to minds, cognitive science, and causation; I'm still interested in those things, but I don't have research plans in those areas right now. In the coming years, I plan to explore how solidarity, mutual aid, and political organizing affect language and what can be thought. In addition to Philosophy 101, I teach courses in logic, philosophy of race and gender, philosophy of mind, philosophy of sex, metaphysics, philosophy of language, and phenomenology.
Education
- B.A., Saint Peter's College, 2004
- Ph.D., Georgetown University, 2011
2025-2026 Academic Year
Fall 2025
PHIL 101 Intro to Philosophy
An introduction to Western philosophy through an examination of problems arising in primary sources. How major philosophers in the tradition have treated such questions as the scope of human reason, the assumptions of scientific method, the nature of moral action, or the connections between faith and reason.
PHIL 103 Logic
The study and practice of forms and methods of argumentation in ordinary and symbolic languages, focusing on elements of symbolic logic and critical reasoning, including analysis and assessment of arguments in English, symbolizing sentences and arguments, constructing formal proofs of validity in sentential and quantificational logic.Offered every semester, or every three out of four semesters.
PHIL 500 Independent Study
Spring 2026
PHIL 113 Colonization, ID, Knowledge
Part of the Sicily Mosaic. Colonization has shaped the modern world. This course explores how it has affected knowledge practices and conceptions of identity. How are colonization and its legacies taught in schools, discussed in news media, regarded by scholars? How has colonization affected racial identities, gender, and sexual orientation? How do the identities of colonizer and colonized affect knowledge, consciousness, and other features of human minds? We'll focus on colonization and its effects in North America, Africa, and the Mediterranean. We'll read major works by Frantz Fanon, Charles Mills, Antonio Gramsci, and W.E.B Du Bois.
PHIL 256 Philosophy of Mind
This course investigates the nature of the mind and its relation to the brain, body, and the surrounding world. Analyses of these topics will draw on information from fields such as psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, or computer science.
PHIL 304 Philosophy of Language
What is the meaning of a word? How is it related to the thing or things it picks out? Can we provide a systematic account of the meaning of every sentence of a natural language (such as English, Japanese or Hebrew)? What is the relationship between what words mean and what we get across with them? In what sense, if at all, do we follow rules when we use language? This course is a seminar in which we will consider these sorts of questions among others. Prerequisites: three prior courses in philosophy, including 103 (Logic) and two at the 200 level, or permission of the instructor. Offered every two years.